Great Expectations

This page doesn't usually contain news, but it does this month. It's that PROMO has a new editor in chief: Larry Jaffee.

For those who don't know him, he's a veteran editor with long experience covering the media and marketing beats.

What's more, Patricia Odell has been named executive editor.

These appointments will strengthen our team as we move ahead with many exciting projects, including redesigns of both our magazine and Web site (www.promomagazine.com).

In his most recent role, Larry was editor of Medialine, a publication covering CD and DVD manufacturing and packaging. Earlier, he was editor of Media Central, a Web site devoted to marketing and media. And he has worked on CableVision, Multichannel News and DM News and has written for papers like the New York Times.

One more thing: In the little spare time he has, Larry edits a quarterly newspaper called the Walford Gazette, for fans of the British TV show EastEnders.

Patty, of course, is a familiar face to many in the ad field. As manager editor of PROMO for four years, she expanded PromoXtra, our daily e-mail newsletter. She is taking on new responsibilities on PROMO and will serve as news editor of our sister product, Chief Marketer.

What's our big story this month? What else could it be but the guerrilla marketing stunt that paralyzed Boston?

Our art director, Jed Davis, started e-mailing Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, the two guys who helped execute the campaign, to persuade them to pose for us. He succeeded, and on the night of Feb. 20, he drove to Boston with photographer Dirk Eusterbrock for the shoot, arriving home at 7 the next morning. The results are in this issue, along with some brilliant reporting on the flap by staffer Amy Johannes.

There's one more person to mention while we're handing out kudos. He's John Herr, group design director of our company's financial services and marketing magazines. John, whose resume includes stints at Rodale and AdWeek, is now redesigning PROMO and is the driving force behind many of our improvements to date.

The trait we value in John the most, right up there with his ability to conceptualize a cover in seconds, is that he is patient with editors.